Audeze LCD-X Open-Back Planar Headphone - Official Thread

[NtraXMD]

[JonneHaven]

LCD-X 2021 EQ Revisions 12-04-22

I’ll be posting 2 EQs this time for the LCD-X 2021 for the reasons that one (I’ll called the “Harman Perfect”) I find beautiful on 95% of songs but too sharp on the 5% of songs that are mastered distastefully. The other (I’ll call “Harman Truncated”) is more of a one size fits all but is less detailed and lacks that Wow! factor, but you rarely get a sharp tone.

The “Harman Perfect” EQ tightly hugs the Harman Target Curve from the frequencies from 900Hz-7500Hz most notably the ‘critical frequencies’ from 3325-4350Hz. I did not follow the Harman Curve blindly, in fact for a long time I did not agree with much of it until by trial and error I found that if I followed it tightly there is “SOMETHING” to it that I found incredibly euphonic. Songs I’d heard 100s of times before suddenly gave me chicken skin the more I adhered to the Curve. YMMV of course but give it a try like I did and see what happens.

Now the only problem with following the Harman Curve in the critical frequencies is that it is SO detailed that you might come across the occasional Eminem type song with an over excited snare drum that is just not mastered for the Curve in those frequencies and can present as sharp and shouty. But I find for 95% of songs the whole sound is represented without too much or too little anywhere within the frequencies I adhere to the Curve. Take it as fun experiment or take it as your new overall preference, it depends on your subjective ear.

As per usual with my EQs 80Hz is emphasize to allow kick drums to cut through the mix. Sub bass is extended all the way flatly down to 20Hz for bottomless sub bass impact. 300Hz and 575Hz are emphasized to bring out the top end of kick drums and the meatier parts of snare drums respectively. Complimenting the overall sound punch and slam that the LCD-X already has.

Harman Perfect EQ

Channel: all
Preamp: -17.4 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 21 Hz Gain 3.54 dB Q 1.2
Filter 2: ON LSC Fc 40.2 Hz Gain 5.4 dB Q 0.69
Filter 3: ON LSC Fc 40.2 Hz Gain 1.07 dB Q 4
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 80 Hz Gain 7.09 dB Q 1.7
Filter 5: ON LSC Fc 90 Hz Gain 7.26 dB Q 0.65
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 115 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 1.41
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 200 Hz Gain -3.12 dB Q 2.4
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 300 Hz Gain 3.25 dB Q 1.5
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 575 Hz Gain 3.7 dB Q 3
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 785 Hz Gain -2.45 dB Q 2.2
Filter 11: ON HSC Fc 1235 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 2.4
Filter 12: ON HSC Fc 1500 Hz Gain 8.1 dB Q 0.72
Filter 13: ON PK Fc 1750 Hz Gain 0.35 dB Q 3
Filter 14: ON PK Fc 1910 Hz Gain 1.24 dB Q 5
Filter 15: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain -0.16 dB Q 5
Filter 16: ON PK Fc 2700 Hz Gain -3.07 dB Q 2
Filter 17: ON PK Fc 3325 Hz Gain 0.34 dB Q 4.8
Filter 18: ON PK Fc 3485 Hz Gain 1.67 dB Q 4.9
Filter 19: ON PK Fc 3750 Hz Gain 3 dB Q 1.7
Filter 20: ON PK Fc 3850 Hz Gain 1.05 dB Q 4.7
Filter 21: ON PK Fc 4015 Hz Gain -1.15 dB Q 5
Filter 22: ON PK Fc 4350 Hz Gain 2.5 dB Q 3.5
Filter 23: ON PK Fc 5400 Hz Gain -0.9 dB Q 3.8
Filter 24: ON PK Fc 5600 Hz Gain -1.9 dB Q 5
Filter 25: ON PK Fc 6100 Hz Gain -3.5 dB Q 2.5
Filter 26: ON PK Fc 6500 Hz Gain 2.32 dB Q 5
Filter 27: ON PK Fc 7350 Hz Gain -1.58 dB Q 3.5
Filter 28: ON PK Fc 10000 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 0.8
Filter 29: ON HSC Fc 13000 Hz Gain 1.74 dB Q 1.4
Filter 30: ON PK Fc 20500 Hz Gain 0.1 dB Q 0.7

To tailor bass adjust the gain of Filter 5 to taste then change Pre-amp value back to -0.1.
To tailor high-mid shoutiness adjust the gain of Filter 19 to taste.
To tailor treble adjust the gain of Filter 28 to taste.
To tailor high-treble sparkle/shine adjust the gain of Filter 29 to taste.

The second EQ I call the “Harman Truncated” EQ is identical to the “Harman Perfect” except for the frequencies including and slightly surrounding the ‘critical frequencies’ from 3325-4350Hz. You’ll notice in the graph that there is a dip around the middle of these frequencies. This is to accommodate even poorly mastered songs so that when that occasion overly sharp snare or an over excited vocalist’s Sss sound shows up it is not ear breaking. It is a safer EQ but lacks the extra Wow factor of the Harman Perfect EQ. This EQ is most like the past EQs that I’ve posted. Which you prefer is subjective but each IMHO has it’s value.

Harman Truncated EQ

Channel: all
Preamp: -17.4 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 21 Hz Gain 3.54 dB Q 1.2
Filter 2: ON LSC Fc 40.2 Hz Gain 5.4 dB Q 0.69
Filter 3: ON LSC Fc 40.2 Hz Gain 1.07 dB Q 4
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 80 Hz Gain 7.09 dB Q 1.7
Filter 5: ON LSC Fc 90 Hz Gain 7.26 dB Q 0.65
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 115 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 1.41
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 200 Hz Gain -3.12 dB Q 2.4
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 300 Hz Gain 3.25 dB Q 1.5
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 575 Hz Gain 3.7 dB Q 3
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 785 Hz Gain -2.45 dB Q 2.2
Filter 11: ON HSC Fc 1235 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 2.4
Filter 12: ON HSC Fc 1500 Hz Gain 8.1 dB Q 0.72
Filter 13: ON PK Fc 1750 Hz Gain 0.41 dB Q 3
Filter 14: ON PK Fc 1910 Hz Gain 1.23 dB Q 5
Filter 15: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain -0.2 dB Q 4
Filter 16: ON PK Fc 2700 Hz Gain -3.01 dB Q 2
Filter 17: ON PK Fc 3450 Hz Gain 1 dB Q 5
Filter 18: ON PK Fc 3750 Hz Gain 3.1 dB Q 1.7
Filter 19: ON PK Fc 4007 Hz Gain -0.45 dB Q 6
Filter 20: ON PK Fc 4350 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 3.5
Filter 21: ON PK Fc 5400 Hz Gain -0.9 dB Q 3.8
Filter 22: ON PK Fc 5600 Hz Gain -1.9 dB Q 5
Filter 23: ON PK Fc 6100 Hz Gain -3.5 dB Q 2.5
Filter 24: ON PK Fc 6500 Hz Gain 2.32 dB Q 5
Filter 25: ON PK Fc 7350 Hz Gain -1.58 dB Q 3.5
Filter 26: ON PK Fc 10000 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 0.8
Filter 27: ON HSC Fc 13000 Hz Gain 1.74 dB Q 1.4
Filter 28: ON PK Fc 20500 Hz Gain 0.1 dB Q 0.7

To tailor bass adjust the gain of Filter 5 to taste then change Pre-amp value back to -0.1.
To tailor high-mid shoutiness adjust the gain of Filter 18 to taste.
To tailor treble adjust the gain of Filter 26 to taste.
To tailor high-treble sparkle/shine adjust the gain of Filter 27 to taste.

I know and have already been told ad nauseam that I use a lot filters and have large pre-amp values. I use a lot of filters because I have an anal retentive ear and I also develop my EQs so that aspects of them can be changed with a single filter if so desired. Also with the attached .txt file all you have to do is use the import function in PEACE to avoid having to manually enter values! I have a large pre-amp value because I love sub-bass and find it fun. This is not for everybody I know which is why I make it easily adjustable to taste. I have not noticed any sound degradation using Equalizer APO and I’ve been working in sound engineering for over 25 years. I have no more to say about that.

A great song to appreciate the “Harman Perfect” EQ with is this Sarah McLachlan song, “Prayer of Saint Francis”:

Sarah McLachlan - Prayer of St. Francis

Remember that I am not selling anything, just sharing my appreciation of the headphone experience. Nor am I preaching that you must EQ. Each person has their own opinions about that and I respect that. Please respect my choice to EQ and if you’re also a proponent of EQ, do try them out and see if maybe there is something there that you like! Happy Listening!!!

Blessings,
-Jonne

[Nuance]

This morning I noticed the small philips screws that attach the headband yoke rods to the c-ring had somewhat loosened. After tightening them, I commenced listening and could swear the bass is less punchy. Is it possible the tightness of those two screws affects cup swivel and seal enough to change the bass dynamics? This could all be in my head, but perhaps someone else could try and share their results?

[generic]

Are your pads flatter on the top edge?

Is your head dented in near the top of your ears?

Can you shine a flashlight in one ear and out the other?

[Nuance]

@generic

Can you shine a flashlight in one ear and out the other?

Lol. Eureka - that was the issue all along!

It’s probably that I’m just starting to come down with a cold or something - go figure, just in time for the holidays. But, it does feel like that screw is affecting the clamp force and tension… who knows.

Cheers.

[dixter]

so you have a screw lose ??

[Nuance]

Ha!

I’m actually doubling down on what I said. I experimented with tightening and loosening those two screws this week, and sure enough they change the clamp force of the headphone; naturally, tighter = tighter clamp force, while two quarter turns looser = less clamp force. The latter slightly breaks the ear pad seal, introducing what sounds like an upper bass quantity increase.

I know Andrew has mentioned the effects of the air gap in planars in some of his videos, but I’d never experienced it until now; pretty interesting.

[alexcoitus]

Babyface pro needs a power adaptor to put out the juice, had the same problem for years

[Anthony_S]

Looking for some advice please. Using the LCD x’s with Dragonfly Red and 2020 M1 MacBook Pro. Will the iFi Audio Zen Can Signature (£249 in the UK) help with the sound quality? I’m finding the sound a bit flat and wider if it’s just an amp issue (either the MacBook and/or Dragonfly). Really don’t have much more to send then around £250 I’m afraid.

[JonneHaven]

LCD-X 2021 EQ Revision 03-05-23
For A Refined EQ

I’m proud to present nearly 3 months work in what is arguably my best EQ for LCD-X ever!

It’s been a while since my last revision (which to me, I admit, I was a little disappointed with) so I spent extra time with this one to make sure that I was not going to regret posting it. Always sleeping on any change, large or small, to hear it again with fresh ears before committing to anything.

This time around I discovered that PEACE can define Q values to the thousandth of a decimal place, a feature that I took advantage of in this release to amazing results…especially when shaping high frequency sounds like ‘sss’ sounds. In this revision I have shaped the ‘sss’ sounds to near perfection…not fuzzy sounding but not piercing either…just realistic and beautiful.

Highs have been shaped in a hybrid shape with the the LCD-X’s stock tuning and the Focal Stellia’s stock tuning…using the best of both tunings and combining them for custom euphonic sound. It took a long to time to accomplish this.

The sub bass extends all the way down and below 20Hz for beautiful sub bass but not too much…as defined by a dip at exactly 40.11Hz for just enough sub bass but not too much to add mud. Since my last revision I’ve added back some of the high bass warmth that was missing, getting back to my roots so to speak…but again not too much.

If a song is meant to be bass heavy, this EQ will reflect that. If the song is not bass heavy, this EQ will respect that as well. Also the way bass is expressed in modern pop is often times different than the way that bass was mastered in songs from the 90s, 80s, and 70s and so on respectively. All will sound good/appropriate to their respective time periods. The common attribute for all of these bass expressions is a nice amount of punch.

Important notes about P.E.A.C.E.

My EQs go to the the hundredth place of some Frequencies values as well as the hundredth place of some Gain values. Unfortunately the Import function of the current PEACE v. 1.6.4.1 does not import these decimal place values as they are in the txt files I’ve shared…as I have posted earlier.

I wrote to PEACE creator Peter Verbeek and he has fixed this issue in beta version 1.6.5.0 just for this fix! And he did it within 24 hours of my writing him!

This beta version is available at this link: PEACE Beta V. 1.6.5.0

Instructions:

1. Rename the downloaded exe file from Peace1650.exe to Peace.exe.

2. Copy the downloaded and renamed file to c:\program files\equalizerapo\config, overwriting the existing Peace.exe file (perhaps after renaming the existing Peace.exe file to Peace.bak just in case for safety.

3. In case you haven’t already done this, change the Settings/Sizes And Amounts Settings - “Snap to dB gain” setting to 0.01 as in the following pic.

Now you can simply import the attached txt file and trust that all of the decimal place values will be accurate so you hear exactly what I hear and have worked so hard on!

LCD-X 2021 EQ Revision 03-05-23

Channel: all
Preamp: -17.7 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 20.2 Hz Gain 11.89 dB Q 0.68
Filter 2: ON LSC Fc 40.11 Hz Gain 1.07 dB Q 4
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 80 Hz Gain 9.47 dB Q 1.196
Filter 4: ON LSC Fc 90 Hz Gain 3.79 dB Q 0.65
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 120 Hz Gain 1.99 dB Q 1.41
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 220 Hz Gain -4.13 dB Q 2.4
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 300 Hz Gain 3.45 dB Q 1.5
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 575 Hz Gain 3.72 dB Q 3
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 785 Hz Gain -2.34 dB Q 2.2
Filter 10: ON HSC Fc 1235 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 2.4
Filter 11: ON HSC Fc 1500 Hz Gain 8 dB Q 0.72
Filter 12: ON PK Fc 1750 Hz Gain 0.47 dB Q 3
Filter 13: ON PK Fc 1910 Hz Gain 1.05 dB Q 5
Filter 14: ON PK Fc 2700 Hz Gain -3.1 dB Q 2
Filter 15: ON PK Fc 3325 Hz Gain 0.3 dB Q 4.8
Filter 16: ON PK Fc 3485 Hz Gain 1.6 dB Q 4.9
Filter 17: ON PK Fc 3750 Hz Gain 3.3 dB Q 1.7
Filter 18: ON PK Fc 3850 Hz Gain 1.1 dB Q 4.7
Filter 19: ON PK Fc 4015 Hz Gain -1.15 dB Q 5
Filter 20: ON PK Fc 4350 Hz Gain 2.3 dB Q 4
Filter 21: ON PK Fc 5100 Hz Gain -0.45 dB Q 3
Filter 22: ON PK Fc 5600 Hz Gain -2.75 dB Q 5
Filter 23: ON PK Fc 6100 Hz Gain -3.23 dB Q 2.5
Filter 24: ON PK Fc 6500 Hz Gain 2.12 dB Q 5
Filter 25: ON PK Fc 7200 Hz Gain -1.65 dB Q 3
Filter 26: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain -1.46 dB Q 4.073
Filter 27: ON PK Fc 9700 Hz Gain -0.3 dB Q 1.41
Filter 28: ON HSC Fc 10980 Hz Gain 2.14 dB Q 0.65
Filter 29: ON PK Fc 11115.84 Hz Gain -2.4 dB Q 3.921
Filter 30: ON PK Fc 13290 Hz Gain -4.99 dB Q 4.8
Filter 31: ON PK Fc 13737 Hz Gain 3.25 dB Q 3.082

(Copy and paste these settings to a .txt file for easy importing into PEACE)

As with all of my EQs I have designed them for easy tweaking:

• To tailor bass adjust the gain of Filter 4 to taste.

• To tailor mids “shoutiness” adjust the gain of Filter 17 to taste. Or to tailor the entire mids and high-bass raise (or lower) the Gain of the other named filters (Filters 4, 27, and 28) EQUALLY and adjust the Pre-amp value to keep the EQ at -0.1dB. This is the preferred way to adjust the mids.

• To tailor high-mids/low treble adjust the gain of Filter 27 to taste.

• To tailor treble adjust the gain of Filter 28 to taste.

After any adjustment, be sure that the Pre-amp setting is set to keep the EQ at -0.1dB in the graph window to avoid clipping or unnecessary compression.

Thanks for reading this far! And thanks to you all who have been so kind in encouraging me with “Likes” and posts. For those of you who don’t EQ (I respect that), thanks for putting up with my posts for the sake of those who do.

Enjoy what I think is my best EQ ever and do let me know if you have questions/comments!

Blessings,

-Jonne

[CarterKeller]

The Zen Can Signature will definitely be helpful for your audio quality. There plenty of output power for your LCD-Xs.

The Zen Can or Zen DAC V2 also have options for bass boost if that interests you. They’re both priced around 199 USD.

[Nate]

So far, this EQ you posted seems most agreeable, but I’m trying to refine it based on how my unit compares to yours. I’m also interested in your Metal EQ settings along with the simplified one you mentioned too. Could you share your unit’s graph from Audeze? Here’s the one I have…I’m trying to see if they have over time optimized the 100-1000 region as mine doesn’t show any bumps like others have. And there are some other minor differences to earlier Audeze graphs shared on the forum.

[Nate]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that this is for Nuance back when you posed your EQ settings

[Nuance]

Here’s my measurement. Take the old Audeze measurements with a grain of salt; weren’t done on a standardized rig.

I’ll post my new EQ settings later this week.

[Nate]

Excellent thanks. Looking forward to it. Tbe metal one too as I do a lot of Djent, and some Tech Death that can shine with the speed & depth of these cans

[Nuance]

Apologies for the delay - life is busy.

Here are the two 5128 measurements of the LCD-X 2021 that I used for one of my references when EQing; the other two aspects were sine sweeps and listening sessions with various pieces of music.

Below is what I am currently using, even for the heaviest of heavy metal. During sine sweeps, my headphone sounds closer to Resolve’s 5128 LCD-X 2021 measurement than Jude’s, at least below 8 KHz; after that, it sounds more like Jude’s measurement. This could be unit variation or simply HPTF. Those measurements combined with sine sweeps and listening sessions brought me to where I am below:

And here it is normalized at 500 Hz. As you can see, I am well below the 8dB DF target for the 5128, but it’s just what sounds “good” to me. Your mileage may very.

[Nate]

Thanks for the details. Ill give it a shot.
Its surprising to see the FR variations among all the 2021+ graphs from Audeze. Have to wonder how much these things each play into the differences: 1) FR measuring setup/equipment/pad influence. 2) consistency of fabrication programming/software/magnets/etc. 3) silent updates/improvements.
It seems 2-4dB variations occur often…in at least 2 or more areas when comparing any 2 graphs from Audeze for 2021’s.
Interesting. Im sure similar things occur at other manufacturers but harder to know as FR curves are generally published as one-offs by the community.

[JonneHaven]

It is greatly disheartening to hear about such dramatic unit variation amongst the LCD-X 2021’s. I spend an inordinate amount of time EQing my pair to share with others and I go into vast specificity with my values, but it seems that maybe unit variation is causing too much uncertainty about what one owner will hear from pair to pair.

Audeze, really, if you’re listening, perhaps try to control your product’s uniformity so that their may be at least some degree of confluence amongst your audiences.

Blessings,
-Jonne

[Nuance]

Well, to be fair, the measurements Audeze provides using the KU 100 should be taken with a grain of salt; not sure how accurate that thing is. The measurements taken on industry standard rigs seems to show less variance, at least regarding the 2021 revisions; the stuff pre 2021 with the memory foam pads was bad.

The largest difference I’ve seen in LCD-X 2021 measurements is when looking at Jude’s 5128 vs Resolve’s. The 43 AG measurements look pretty similar, so hopefully Audeze has learned their lesson and we see a much tighter tolerance going forward. Although, their transparency about “silent revisions” needs much improvement.

[Nate]

Agreed that it may not be accurate like a calibrated industry rig that Resolve uses. I have to figure the Audeze electronic measurement machine is precise though …allowing comparisons of various 2021 LCD-X units once the Audeze graphs are vertically adjusted to mostly overlap each other. This is when I noticed the graph variations among units. The usefulness of this kind of direct comparison is to identify frequency regions and dB magnitudes that could be targeted to listen/tweak a published EQ profile(when you have that person’s unique Audeze curve) to compensate for potential unit variations…I mention “potential unit variations” because the Audeze graph variations could also be influenced by normal setup variations like pad compression, placement variation on the measurement rig, etc. Maybe LCD-X inner pad geometry changes slightly every time you put them on and contributes to these variations. Just some food for thought as we make our tweaks to other people’s EQ profiles. A published EQ profile could have a little more value when you also have that person’s unique graph from Audeze and have compared it to your own.
Cheers friends.